The President Did What?

     So, yesterday we hit peak nonsense; the President signed an Executive Order and the creepy Internet Nazis  and the Left -- almost all the Left -- freaked out, because the headlines claimed he'd defined being Jewish as a nationality.

     For me, that was a real WTF moment, because "government gets weird about Jews" is one of my tripwires and not one I expected to have tripped.  So I had to go find out.

     The actual text of the actual EO proved elusive and it turns out the official version hasn't yet been published, but there's a draft version available at whitehouse.gov.*

     But what, you might wonder, is all this about?

     The issue is that Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 requires that "groups or activities receiving Federal funding assistance" must not discriminate "on the ground of race, color, or national origin," if they want to keep getting those Federal checks.  Notice anything left out?

     The Obama Administration thought there was kind of a hole in it, and told Federal bureaucrats in a position to hand out funds (rather a lot of them) that they must not give money to groups or activities that support or endorse antisemitism, but they were a bit vague as to definitions.  At least, that's what the Anti-Defamation League says in their FAQ on the recent Executive Order, and they're subject-matter experts.

     So this order provides a standard, one that is widely accepted: The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's working definition of antisemitism.

     So that's what's going on.  Congress being a little busy -- and having dropped the ball on this at least once in the past (see the ADL FAQ) -- this is a patch on a patch.  A workaround.  It doesn't redefine any individual's citizenship on the basis of their religion or ancestry.

     Krakatoa has not exploded.†  I'm not saying it won't, but this wasn't it.
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* For those dimwittedly determined to chortle in religio-racist glee or panic over same, here's your window: the officially published version, coming in a few weeks, might be slightly different.  Spoiler: not in any substantive way.  Now GTFO and go back to TL;DR land.  I realize this may cost me a few readers of the junior Nazi and/or bedwetting variety, who I will be happy to see go.  Buh-bye!  Bye!

† There's a story that when the volcano began to show serious signs of increased activity, people started to flee the island in panic, until a colonial official pointed out that it had been two hundred years since the last explosion and minor temblors were a common occurrence.  He calmed the people down and most returned to their homes and the work, only to perish when the island pretty much blew up shortly afterwards. We should strive not to be that guy, even while we refrain from panic.